George R.R. Martin is a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, but he never shied away from criticizing The Lord of the Rings and sharing what he thinks is wrong with its templates. A Song of Ice and Fire has always been placed side by side with the famed fantasy series, and while they are both set in the medieval world, their depictions are quite different.
Even the creators of Game of Thrones share the same sentiments that Martin holds. They believe that the violence in The Lord of the Rings is not as gruesome as what we’ve seen in the HBO show.
Game of Thrones showrunner didn’t want to portray Westeros the Tolkien way
Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss took the massive responsibility of bringing to life George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. One of their promises to fans was to depict the medieval world of Westeros as truthfully as possible.
Speaking with Marcia Franklin at the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference for Dialogue: Creating Game of Thrones, Benioff explained how they approached the brutality in the show and compared it to that of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. “This is a very violent world that George depicts in his world,” he said, noting that it felt fundamentally dishonest for them to present it in a way other than how it is in the books. Part of their initial pitch to HBO was to include all the graphic scenes.
You know, this is not Tolkien in a kind of s*xless world, where, as far as we know, the hobbits have never once contemplated anything erotic.
Game of Thrones is notoriously known for featuring a lot of intimate scenes as well as scenarios of s*xual abuse, an aspect that we didn’t see in any of the Tolkien movies, at least not on screen. These were gruesome realities that were present during the medieval times.
Somehow this comment from Benioff is reminiscent of the time Martin criticized the story for the absence of explicit scenes. “As much as I admire Tolkien… you do have to wonder where all those Hobbits came from, since you can’t imagine Hobbits having s*x, can you?” he quipped via AZ Quotes. Well, it’s certainly a question that needs an immediate answer!
George R.R. Martin reveals his frustration with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings
Martin has built a reputation for being outspoken, not only with his admiration for Tolkien’s works but also his issues.
In his interview via Rolling Stone, he expressed his major quibble about the ruling system in Tolkien’s world. “Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple,” adding that if Aragorn becomes king, being wise and good won’t cut it. We need to know the real problems he’s dealing with. The books need to depict how he’s going to issue policies and deal with crises.
It’s evident that Martin doesn’t like the oversimplification of complex themes found in Tolkien’s literature.
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